Mark Twain once sat on his porch thinking: ‘Such is the human race. Often it does seem such a pity that Noah didn’t miss the boat.’ Today more than ever, Earth and its millions of species must occasionally look at us primates, and regretfully join Twain’s opinion.
We of course know there was neither a boat nor a Noah, but the idea is a suited introduction to the problem we currently face. After reading about the facts that surround overpopulation, you might even read his quote from a different perspective.

A Definition of Overpopulation
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary describes overpopulation as the condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population crash. A definition in another Webster’s Dictionary says: to populate (an area) too heavily for the available sustaining resources. Naturally we think of the population of our own species, for which we undeniably have our reasons.

Evolution of Population Growth
When agriculture first started to bloom at about 8000 BC, there were roughly 5 million people to be counted. Arable and dairy farming increased the quality of life and gave people the opportunity to feed more children. Slowly population growth began its rising curve, and by 1 BC there were 200 to 300 million people on Earth. From 800 AD on, the population increased with temporary drops caused by diseases such as the Black Death. However, after each drop the birth rate rose as it always does, so these heights in mortality rate merely attributed to the increasing population. During the Ming Dynasty alone, the Chinese population more than doubled from 60 million to 150 million. The beginning of the Industrial Revolution caused the population to rise even more. By the end of the eighteenth century, there were a little less than one billion of us. But we still hadn’t reached the largest increase in human history, which happened throughout the twenty-first century. At the turn of the century we were at a population of 1.6 billion, and by 1940 we had turned that number into 2.3 billion. Cheap energy and fast evolving technology undoubtedly formed the main reasons of the enlargement of families who were now able to sustain more children with a higher chance of survival than before. Mass food production and the industrialization of agriculture had a dramatic increase as a consequence during the 1950’s. The peak of this growth was reached in 1964 with a staggering percentage of 2.2% per year. Today, our population is estimated to be at 7.311.193, and I’m sure not everyone was counted.

The yearly growth was estimated to be at 1.2% in 2008. In terms we understand, this means that each year another 82 million people are added to the already existing number, calculated from a birth rate of 138.7 million minus a mortality rate of 56.7 million. This number tells us that the population is increased weekly by 1.58 million, that’s double the number of inhabitants of Amsterdam. At this rate we are looking at a population of 9.15 billion by the year 2050. The added 2.3 billion between 2008 and 2050 is very much comparable with the entire world population of 1950.

These numbers are to be called frightening at least, and with that, naturalist Sir David Attenborough fully agrees. I quote in Attenborough-voice: ‘I’ve never seen a problem that wouldn’t be easier to solve with fewer people, or harder, and ultimately impossible, with more. That’s why I support the Optimum Population Trust, and I wish the environmental NGOs would follow their lead, and spell out this central problem loud and clear.’

Consequences of Overpopulation
The quotation of a biologist is no coincidence. As the dictionary already taught us, overpopulation largely depends on sustainable resources. The way we use and distribute these resources is of major importance to the carrying capacity of the environment. Natural resources would be clean air and water, food, shelter, warmth and all other sources that help us maintain a high quality of life such as education and medical care. Overpopulation threatens these necessities, which over time will decrease our quality of life.

Earth Overshoot Day brings us evidence concerning the day of the year humans have consumed all resources Earth can produce in one year. In 1987, Overshoot Day was calculated on the alarming but still acceptable 19th of December. In 1990 this had become December 7th. 1995 celebrated Overshoot Day on November 21st, 2000 on November 1st, 2005 on October 20th, 2007 on October 27th, 2008 on September 28th and 2009 on September 25th. In 2014 Earth Overshoot Day reached August 19. August 19.
In the meantime the increase of our population and the exaggerated consuming of resources have been scientifically proven to be severely damaging to the environment. As an example the 20 000 to 40 000 species extinct per year as a direct result from human activity, should do. These are species that spent billions of years to be born on Earth today, which in the effort of evolution is no different from you and me. These species are condemned to disappear into history because man hunts them, destroys their habitat and devours their prey. The numbers are much higher than the background extinction rate, which shows the standard of species extinct in the geological and biological history before man ever saw light.

Apart from the ecosystems and the tens of thousands species Earth looses every year, pollution is getting seriously out of control. However pollution is threatening to our health, the mass production of food is a problem we should start worrying about as well. It is of great importance to realize that our large and increasing population creates the need of a huge amount of food to be produced at a high tempo. Inevitable consequences are horrific circumstances for animals raised, exploited and killed at factory farms, and a low quality of genetically modified foods. Inadequate clean water is already the cause of many deaths today in third world countries, and deforestation forces the producing of clean air in a tight corner. Changes in the atmospheric composition leave us with large scale problems such as global warming. Overpopulation that goes hand in hand with failing political leadership is altogether the cause of poverty and starvation. Surely, this will help decreasing the quality of the life of yourself and any other individual you wish to add to this growing disaster. As it would do to other animals, living in unhealthy conditions like crowded places, malnourishment and bad medical care, brings us epidemics and new diseases. Crime will only rise in a world where necessities of life become scarce and for the same reason war will run rampant. A last consequence that must be considered is the inevitable loss of personal freedom that will derive out of a crowded society that will need to enforce even more rules and restrictions.

These consequences that are shown in an astonishing amount of problems concerning Earth’s welfare, have put many scientists to explore more about our place in the global ecosystem. Some have come to worrying conclusions, such as Dr. Warren Hern’s Cancer on Earth hypothesis.
The goal of the hypothesis is to explain the reality we are witnessing around us, and to predict events. If we perceive man as a species that is destructive to others and ecosystems, and we start comparisons with other organisms, we soon turn to pathologic categories such as parasitism, neoplasia, disturbances in growth, infectious disease, inflammatory processes and autoimmune disorders. Disturbance in growth is apparent in the case of the human species, for the dramatic increase of our population exceeds the limits of population growth in other species. For instance, populations tend to maintain themselves in a series of oscillations. Digression from this pattern results in severe instability and even extinction. The rapid growth of the human species from the Pleistocene until present is similar to those seen in other populations just before they collapse. Yet humans have shown an extraordinary resistance to forces that cause other species to collapse. Until now, the human species has always avoided serious fallbacks by expanding its territory to unexploited ecosystems. These territories are now becoming rare to un-existing, which is why certain scientists are now looking towards building habitats in space.
Rapid, uncontrolled growth is the main characteristic of a malignant neoplasm that shows three other characteristics, being invasion and destruction of adjacent normal tissues, de-differentiation and metastasis to different sites. These traits can be described to cancer, and are remarkably similar to those of the human species. We have already established the rapid and uncontrolled growth of our species. In the case of invasion and destruction of adjacent normal tissues, we see the ecological destruction by human societies, which now threatens the global ecosystem. De-differentiation is obvious in our adaptability through culture, and metastasis is shown in our colonization or urbanization. The human population shows to have all four characteristics, however pathologists require that a tumor displays two in order to be categorized as malignant. In that case, human species could be described as a highly aggressive metastatic cancer. A fifth characteristic should be the growth in spite of the host starvation until the host dies. We have yet to encounter the total destruction of our host, Earth, although it is likely that when that should occur, man will find its refugee in distant territories once again: space.

The Prospects of our Future
Unfortunately, all these facts throw a dark shadow over our future. It gets even sadder when we learn that the largest population growth will occur in underdeveloped countries, where men and women have little to no access to education and contraception. These last have both helped the fertility rate to decrease from 5 children per woman in 1950 – 1955, to 2.65 children per woman in 2000 – 2005. Population is thought to remain stable in developed countries, while the population in underdeveloped countries will increase from the present 5.6 billion to 7.9 billion in 2050.
In the meantime, our life expectancy will keep rising. Since 1950 it rose from 45 to 65 in the year 2005. It is estimated to become 75 in developed and 66 in underdeveloped countries in 2050. There should be no need to emphasize that this will bring along an ageing population, knowing that the amount of people over 60 will have tripled by 2050, and the fertility rate will drop from 2.65 to 2.1. What this means to the future economy, we have only to guess.

As formerly mentioned, the population in developed areas is thought to remain almost unchanged due to the drop in fertility rate. The mortality rate is even expected to become higher than the birth rate, which would cause the population to decrease. Migration towards these countries, however, is responsible for an extra 98 million people per year. So if these areas would know an increase in the future, migration could be the cause.
According to the concerning results of these studies, it is high time for us to consider putting more effort into offering education to people in third world countries. Couples who have access to sexual education, contraception and an understanding of the issue, are less likely to produce more than two children. Each year, about 80 million unwanted or unplanned children are born. Notice that this is the same number by which our population increases yearly. If we can reach the parents of these children, we might make a huge difference for us and the global ecosystem. In this perspective, international help organizations are of little use, since they merely focus on the poverty and starvation of the existing population, and by eliminating these problems, will cause an even higher birth rate that in turn will worsen the initiate problems. What those countries need is economical and intellectual progress, which they would be able to accomplish if it weren’t for the self-interest based actions of our leaders instead of focusing on the wellbeing of Earth and its species.

Knowing that our survival depends on available sustainable resources, I would like to zoom into our prospects concerning those. There are many theories about the carrying capacity of our environment. After performing an American study, professor David Pimentel and Mario Giampietro came to the conclusion that Earth could carry as much as 200 million Americans and sustain a natural balance at the same time. To avoid future disasters, the U.S. would have to decrease its population with one third, and the world with two thirds. Furthermore, David Pimentel concluded that the growing imbalance between human population and available resources emphasizes the need of eco-friendly energy sources. He points out that people from all over the world should understand that the fast growing population damages the Earth and with that, our own wellbeing.
Other studies have shown that Earth does carry the natural resources to sustain even a population growth, but only to a great disadvantage to the Earth. Mass food production is possible now and in the future, though the damages include ongoing deforestation, loss of species and ecosystems, pollution and more acres of land that will be taken in by agriculture, only to poison it with pesticides. Since all life on Earth depends on these sources, to many scientists it seems unwise to go along with this irresponsible population growth.
The outcome many like to turn the other cheek to, is that we are heading to a future fatal to the entire ecosystem that is Earth. And it is certainly not worth our child fetish of today.

What can we do?
There are some alternatives we can start with today, were it not for numerous irrelevant objections.
A first solution is one we know all too well. We even enforce it in other species that are becoming too numerous and sometimes even damaging to their environment, though we seem to fail to see the need for ourselves. We have been discussing birth control for decades, while China already tasted the fruits of introducing it. The question that rises, is if the government should be able to take away the people’s freedom to the extent of deciding the number of their children. This is why birth control should exist at least in the education of people and offering them contraception, to give them the opportunity to make choices at a responsible and intelligent level. Ignorance and the lack of access to these means will keep leading towards ridiculous amounts of births that would willingly be avoided by their parents.
Objections to birth control find their origins in controlling institutions, mainly politics and religion. Western politics are focused on nothing more but the generating of profit and power in their monetary society. They are governed by the most profit generating businesses of society, which makes marketing one of the most decisive activities today. In the US alone, children are responsible for generating 300 billion dollars per year, that they spend on a large selection of products. There is the allowance they spend on sweets and toys, but they also have an influence on their parent’s choice of buying. This fact makes it easy to understand that the people benefitting from this profit, would not like to see a drop in the number of their consumers.
Another example is the worldwide distribution of grain. Today, more than one hundred countries import their grains, and forty countries import rice. Egypt and Iran depend on 40% of imported grain. Algeria, Japan, South-Korea and Taiwan rely on an import of 70% and more. Israel imports up to 90%. A mere six countries produce 90% of the exported grain, being Argentina, Canada, Australia, France, Thailand and the USA. During the most recent decades, the USA was the exporter of more than half of the total amount of exported grain, which is almost entirely due to the patent exporting corporations placed on certain seeds. With this, they gave themselves control over the production, distribution and profit of an astounding amount of grain. The main reason of poverty and starvation is to be found in financing, led vigorously by the greed of the most powerful people within society. More people mean more production. More production means more profit.
Political objections put aside, the church feels the necessity to share its ungrounded opinions and convince millions of uneducated people thereof. According to them, abortion means murder and birth control is a ticket to eternal damnation. As always, none of their statements can be supported by scientific proof, though their impact is alarming. Contraception and abortion are being refused by firm believers, which causes millions of unwanted births yearly. This irresponsible behavior leads to the dramatic consequences for our environment and millions of other species in it. The underlying reasons for the church’s follies are to be found, as ever, in their golden bank account.

Some scientists opt for the creation of habitat beyond Earth’s atmosphere. However this would give thousands of people the chance to live and multiply elsewhere, our technology has not yet reached the possibility to turn this into a realistic plan, nor would it be a long-term solution.

In case we remain passive, Earth will become active for us. It fact, it already has. Not in terms of epidemics or self-destructive behavior like war, for they act as a preparation to a boom in birth rate. The most effective way of keeping population under control, is decreasing the fertility rate. Nature has introduced the adeno-associated virus, that causes infertility with males. A drop in the fertility rate will eventually lead to a decline in population.
Again, this drop is not everywhere accepted with open arms, mainly for short-term economical reasons. In Belgium, the ageing population already encounters its first difficulties. High costs make that there will soon be insufficient funds to support upcoming retirements. Their solution consists of promoting a higher birth rate, which is supposed to stimulate the economy. This, of course, will have them face never ending problems with the constant return of the same issues, with consequences that are described in this article.

What you and I can do, is spread the awareness about this global problem. Education must become the key towards an entire reorganization of our current society. The right approach will reward future generations with a healthier, more intelligent population that will offer necessities of life to each individual with a rising quality of life. Producing more children is not the solution, having responsible relationships with our partner(s) and making thoughtful choices in our lives, can mean a better future for yourself and all other creatures on Earth.
The choice is now yours.

Movements
More and more organizations arise with the goal of spreading awareness and a following decline in population growth. Some of them are:

Sources
Church of Euthanasia.
Population Index.
The Future of Food.
Optimum Population Trust.
World population data sheet 2008.
Population Reference Bureau.
Description and Diagnosis of a Planetary Ecopathological Process, paper by Eliot Porter.